


The New Arrival

by Hotspur



Category: Classical Greece and Rome History & Literature RPF, Julius Caesar - Shakespeare
Genre: Babies, Children, Multi, Parenthood, roman tradition
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-04
Updated: 2014-11-04
Packaged: 2018-02-24 03:50:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2567174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hotspur/pseuds/Hotspur
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The baby is here and so is the next chapter in the lives of three Romans.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The New Arrival

**Author's Note:**

> For my friend who needed some encouragement.   
> I'm currently floating from some meds and at night when I'm like this I always end up thinking of Cassportus stories. This one has been in my head for a couple nights I think. This is something my friend Octavian and I had been talking about. Also, reference to my other crippling obsession, Whitechapel
> 
> It was Roman tradition that when a baby was born, it would be placed on the floor and the father would have to pick it up. If the baby was picked up, that meant the father accepted paternity and responsibility for the child.

Brutus picked up the baby.

It was simple, really. All he had to do was stoop down and pick up the bundle and not drop it. The meaning behind that whole simple ceremony was huge, though. In picking up the baby he was declaring that he was the father of the child and that he accepted responsibility for the helpless little life in his arms. 

Porcia looked at him from the bed, and she smiled. “Support his head,” she advised gently. Brutus put his hand under the baby’s head and stared at him, amazed. The midwife stepped aside. Brutus sat on the edge of the bed, still looking at the baby. 

“He’s so tiny,” Brutus finally said.

Porcia nodded, tiredly. She was grateful to be in bed, having delivered the baby on a birthing chair like all Romans did. “Amazing, isn’t it. Something so small.” 

Brutus kissed the baby’s forehead. “I love you, Marcillus. I’ll take care of you.” The baby squirmed, not sure what he thought about his family. Brutus began to worry and he handed the bundle back to Porcia. “I think he wants you.”

“You’ll get used to him,” she told the baby. “I did.”

-

Two nights later they held a party to celebrate the birth of their son. The whole family was there, including Brutus’s mother, Servilia. She seemed pleased with her grandson, but not so much with the fact that the mother was a girl she hated. And even though Brutus usually had to grit his teeth and deal with his mother’s hatred of his wife, he couldn’t see anyone else this night, just his beautiful son and beautiful wife. The pain and struggles of the past few months that had threatened to split apart the Republic and destroy their life were gone now, and Brutus laughed that night, putting his arm around Portia’s waist, squeezing her hand, acting like the infatuated husband he was.

Everyone wanted to hold the baby, and when it came to Cassius to hold him, Marcillus was crying. He’d just been held by Casca, who he apparently didn’t like at all. Casca, flustered, handed the baby over to Cassius, who put him on his shoulder and he gently bounced him. Marcillus stopped crying and Cassius smiled. Brutus and Porcia decided to   
let Cassius find out on his own that Marcillus had spit up on his shoulder.

The evening wound down. Cicero had given Brutus a lecture on fatherhood and was now thankfully being informed by his secretary Tiro that it was time to go. Servilia had managed to not make any mean comments to Porcia, and the baby had been introduced to everyone important in Rome. 

Cassius hung back, under the pretense of discussing business with Brutus. He’d found out about the baby spit on his toga and had discarded it.

“See, he’s accepted you,” Porcia giggled. “He likes you.” She was sitting on a couch, holding Marcillus- little Marcus.

“Sure,” Cassius replied. “But can he say it in a way that doesn’t involve ruining my toga?”

“Alright,” Brutus said. “We agreed, even if he really is mine, you said you’d pick him up too?” 

Cassius nodded. “He looks kinda like me,” he said. 

Porcia looked down at the bundle in her arms. This was the second time she’d held a baby like this- she’d had Lucius when she was sixteen and had seen him grow up. This was Brutus’s first child (they assumed Marcillus was Brutus’s) and she hoped he wouldn’t be the last. Life was very fragile and therefore precious. “It’s too early to tell who he looks like,” Porcia said. “He kinda looks like… nothing, really. He’s a baby.” She handed Marcillus, who was asleep, to Brutus. The instant he was in Brutus’s arms, he woke up and started crying.

“Shoosh!” Brutus tried to calm him down. “Please go back to sleep, sweetie, shhh…” He nervously laid Marcillus down on the floor tiles. The baby continued crying. “I’m not   
putting you down forever,” Brutus said to him. “Just until Cassius picks you up.” He sat down heavily on the couch next to Porcia and she squeezed his hand.

Cassius stooped down and picked Marcillus up. “It’s going to be alright, little one,” he said, gently bouncing him. “I’ve claimed you too. You’ve got two dads. I’m going to take care of you too.” Marcillus calmed down.

“Quod- how do you do that?” Brutus asked, dumbfounded. Maybe Marcillus really was Cassius’s child. Not that he’d be mad or anything, especially considering their relationship.   
Cassius sat down on Porcia’s other side. It was nice, just the three (well, four) of them able to sit in peace after a lot of people. Marcillus was probably very tired of being passed around all night. 

Cassius finally get Marcillus back to sleep, and he handed him back to his mother. 

“Enjoy how small he is now,” she said. “Someday you’re going to be big and strong like your daddies,” she addressed the sleeping infant.

“Hopefully he won’t have to dispatch any dictators,” Brutus sighed. He ran his fingers over the soft bit of hair on the baby’s head. Brutus kissed his wife’s cheek and rested his head on her shoulder. Cassius reached behind Porcia’s back to hold Brutus’s hand and he kissed Porcia too. 

Babies don’t feel love. They only feel the need to eat, cry, expel waste, and drive their parents insane. But Brutus, Porcia, and Cassius loved each other, and they loved their son, and that was what mattered.


End file.
